Means for hanging wall covering



J, D. STEPHENS.

MEANS FOR HANGING WALL COVERINGS- APPLICATION FILED Aueh4, 1919. RENEWED JAN. 28. 1922.

Patented Aug. 29,1922.

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MEANS FOR HANGING WALL COVERINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent. patg tgd A g 1922 I Application filed August 4,1919, Serial No. 315,061. Renewed January 28, 1922. Serial No. 532,504.

To all whom it may concern.

' Belt known that 1, JOHN D. STEPHENS, a citizen of the United States, and residing in the city of Pittsburgh, in the countyofiillegheny and State of Pennsylvania,have 1nvented or discovered new and useful. Im-

provements in Means for Hanging, -Wall Coverings, of which the followingis a specification. I Y

My invention consists ofnew ,and improved means for hanging tapestry and other wall coverings.

Tapestry isnow usually tacked in place on the wall, thus rendering an attempt to take it down fraught with danger of injury to the fabrics. Thus valuable tapestry is frequently permitted to remain in place in an empty house, when it 'shouldbe taken down and stored away. Also, as in the case of ball or assembly rooms, itis frequently desirable to'change the characterfof the wall coverings to harmonize with the color schemes to be carried out in the decorations for social andother events. Thus it is of great advantage tobe able to put up and take down the wall coverings quickly and "without damage to the fabrics, since a supply of fabrics to suit thevarying needs can be kept in stockby thedecorator, and, he

will be justified in using stuflsof finerquali- 'tiesif they may beused over and over again without injury. it Y I I .The object which lhave in view is the provision of suitable" means for hanging tapestry and other wall coverings'in such a manner that the same may be. quickly and easily put up and taken down without nail-- ent material, such as sheet metal bent to properqform,to gain the necessary springaction for properly gripping the material. The vertical edges of the fabric at the corners of the room are similarly inserted into the sockets of vertical socket nioldlngs fixed in the room corners, and locking members are used to wedge the edges of the fab- The corner socket moldings are preferably duplex or provided with double sockets and double locking members coacting with the same are used, so that each block Wlll secure in its molding socket the vertical edges of the two adjacent lengths of material. I I I The socket moldings are preferably concealed-by finish moldings to improve the appearance, and the finish moldings are also, preferably, sprung into attachment with the socket moldings, so as to beeasily mounted in place or dismounted, when necessary.

Other novel featuresof construction and arrangement of parts will appear from the following description.

Inv the accompanying drawings, which are merely intended to illustrate the principles of my invention without limiting the scope of the same to the construction shown, Fig.

lis a broken elevation showing the top edge of a length of tapestry held in place by, means of my invention, the finish molding and the tapestry being partially broken away to'show' the socket molding and the locking members; Fig.2 is asection taken along the line IIII in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 isa section taken alongthe line TIL-III in Fig. 1 with the tapestry also shown; Fig.& is a top plan view showing the corner socket molding and the adjacent ends 'of. the finish moldings covering the horizontal socket moldings ,Fig. is a section taken along the" line VV 111 F 1g. 4, andFig. G'is' a broken frontelevation of thecorner molding with one of the corner locking members inplace' but with the tapestry omitted for the sake of clearness.

The following is a detailed description of the drawings. Y t A and A represent two adjoining walls of a room and B the ceiling. Crepresents wall covering material, such as tapestry.

To secure the top edge of the tapestry in place, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 5, I secure to the wall at the proper height a horizontal socket molding D, This molding is shown close tothe ceiling B in Fig. 1 but it may be at a lower level, if desired- In the frontface or" the molding D is formed a longitud'b nal socketior recess 1,'preferab-ly having a yertically contracted mouth andsaid molding is provided with a vertical flange or flanges 2 by' means of which it may be screwedto the wall as shown. I may form the 'molding D of resilient sheet metal pressed to proper form, thus obtaining an elasticity which furnishes a better engage,- ment between the parts. The wall cover 1s clamped in the socket 1 by a plurallty of relatively short locking members or blocks E, formed by bending over resilient sheet metal. These members E are provided with a curved or bellied portion 3 which is adapted to be sprung into the socket 1 of the molding D. If desired, I may provide a single integral locking member for the entire length of the socket molding but I find it more convenient'to use a number of relatively short members inserted at intervals. The edge of thetapestry C is inserted in the socket 1, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5 and the members E are forced into place, as shown, thus wedging the edge of the tapestry in place. By pulling out the members E, the fabric is released. The members E preferably have their longitudinal edges upset, as at 4L, so that by the application of a knife or screw driver the members may be sprung out of engagement with the socket molding. By using a plurality of short locking members positioned at intervals apart, the tapestry may be properly stretched and smoothly hung, without difficulty. v

To conceal the socket molding and the locking members from view, I prefer to use an ornamental sheet metal finish molding F, whose top is provided with'a rearwardly extending flange 5 which bears against the wall and covers the top of the socket molding to exclude dust and whose lower edge extends down below the socket molding and performs the same function. The finish molding F may be held in position in any convenient manner. Thus, I show a contractedhorizontal doubletongue or loop 6 which may beforced into the interiors of the locking members E, thus holding the finish molding in place.

The bottom edge of the tapestry is similarly secured in place, the bottom socket moldings being reversed from the position shown in the drawings so that the wedging strain will be exerted downwardly instead of upwardly as in the case of molding D.

At theroom corners, I secure the vertical edges of the tapestry in the following man ner.

G is a socket molding secured in the corner of the walls A and A and preferably formed of pressed sheet metal to provide a double socket. Thus 7 7 represents side flanges which bear against the walls and support the central double socket 8 extending to either side and separated by the stub partition 9 through which screws 10 may be driven to secure the molding G in place. The vertical edges of the tapestry are inserted into the sides of the socket 8 and the double locking members H, of proper form to spring into both sides of the double socket 8, inserted in place. The edges of the members H are preferably upset as at 11 to facilitate their withdrawal.

To cover and conceal the vertical socket molding G and its locking members H, I provide a finish plate I of rectangular cross section which bears against the vertical edges of the tapestry, and is provided with a double spring tongue 12 which may be sprung into the hollows of the locking members E.

It is evident from the foregoing that by means of my socket moldings and locking members tapestry and other wall hangings may be hung or taken down quickly and without trouble.

hat I desire to claim is:

1. Means for hanging flexible wall coverings, comprising a molding adapted to be secured to the wall and provided with a longitudinally extending recess adapted to receive the edge of the wall covering, and a plurality of locking members provided with rearwardly bellied resilient portions adapted to be sprung into said molding recess to enable the wall covering to be stretched and secured in place by the insertion of said locking members at intervals. along said molding.

2. Means for hanging flexible wall coverings, comprising a'molding adapted to be secured to the wall and provided with a longitudinal recess in its exposed face which is adapted to receive the edge of the wall c'overin and a plurality of locking members 8:? formed bybending up pieces of resilient sheet metal and provided with rearwardly extending protuberances whichare adapted to be forced into said recess whereby the wall coveringmay be stretched and secured in place by the insertion of said locking members at intervals along said molding.

3. Means for hanging flexible wall coverings, comprising a molding adapted to be secured to the wall and provided with a longitudinally extending recess adapted to receive the edge of the wallcovering, a plurality of locking members provided with. rearwardly bellied resilient portions adapted to be sprung into said. molding recess to enable the wall covering to be stretched and secured in place by the insertion of said locking members at intervals along said molding, said locking members being provided on their exposed faces with locking recesses, and a finish molding having on its rear face a locking projection adapted to be inserted into said last named recesses to secure said finish molding in place to conceal said locking members.

4:. Means for hanging flexible wall covering comprising a molding adapted to be secured to the wall and provided with a longi tudinal recess in its exposed face which is adapted to receive the edge of the wall covering, a plurality of locking members formed projection adapted to be inserted into the concaved fronts of said locking members to secure said finish molding in place to conceal said locking members.

5. Means for hanging flexible wall coverings comprising a socketed strip secured to a wall and adapted to receive an edge portion of the flexible wall covering, and a resilient locking member provided with a portion adapted to be removably wedged into the socket of the strip to firmly bind the fabric within the socket.

6. Means for hanging flexible wall coverings comprising a socketed strip secured to a wall and ada ted to receive an edge portion of the flexib e wall covering, a detachable resilient locking member coactive with the socket in the strip to firmly bind the fabric within the socket, and a finishing strip of sufficient width to conceal the first I mentioned strip and the locking member detachably associated with the socket thereof.

- 7. Means for hanging flexible wall coverings comprising alongitudinally socketed strip secured to a wall and adapted to receive an edge portion of the flexible walll covering, and a series of relatively short resilient locking members each formed with a portion adapted to be removably wedged o JOHN D. STEPHENS.- 

